Liliensternus

Liliensternus liliensterni

Pronounced: Lil - ee - an - Stern - us

Diet: Carnivore (Meat-Eater)

Name Means: "Lilienstern's"

Length: 20 feet (6 m)

Height: 8 feet (2.5 m)

Weight: 880 pounds (400 kilos)

Time: Late Triassic - 215 MYA

Fossil remains for this Dinosaur have been found in Central Europe

Liliensternus was a very early large meat-eater that was likely one of the first dinosaurs. It is difficult to determine what it looked like as not much of this dinosaur has been found. Liliensternus gets its name from Hugo Rule von Lilienstern, a German scientist.

Originally referred to as Halticosaurus when it was first discovered in 1934, it was later renamed in 1984 after further study. Liliensternus was a lightly built dinosaur, typical of the early carnivores. A partial specimen found in 1993 seems to fall on the Triassic/Jurassic boundary, which could make this an important transitional species. To date, all of the specimens that have been found appear to be sub-adults; so much of our knowledge is incomplete.